Power utility companies use power distribution lines to carry power to customers spanning large geographic areas, typically from one or more power generating stations (or power plants) to residential and commercial customer sites. The power is carried on power distribution lines from the power plants at relatively high voltages and using alternating current (AC). Substations are commonly located near the customer sites to provide a step-down of the high voltage to a lower voltage (e.g., using transformers). Power distribution lines carry this lower-voltage AC from the substations to multitudes of customer sites at which endpoint (e.g., power-consumption metering) devices are installed to monitor and report on the power consumed at each site.
Service providers utilize such power distributed networks to provide data-communication services to customers over the same large geographic areas over which the power utility companies provide power. While the power plants (or power-generating stations) use alternating current (AC) to transmit power over long distances via the power distribution lines, service providers communicate (send and/or collect) power-related informational data with consumers of the distributed power and also communicate control/configuration data with equipment which may be switching and/or drawing power from the power distributed networks. Long-distance transmission can be accomplished over a relatively high voltage.
Communications providers are among such service providers which may utilize distributed communications networks to provide communications services to customers. Similarly, power companies utilize a network of power lines, meters, and other network elements to provide power to customers throughout several geographic regions and to receive data from customer locations including, but not limited to, data representing metered utility usage. A system can provide these reporting functions using a set of data-collecting devices (collectors) that are designed to communicate with nearby endpoint devices. However, data communication between a command center, collectors and many thousands of endpoint devices over power distribution lines can be a particularly challenging issue. The sheer number of endpoint devices contributes to a host of issues including endpoint processing power, memory size, endpoint cost, interference from AC power and other concerns. For instance, digital signal processing of communications between the devices can be complicated by these and other factors.